Roma: Rafa vs. Monfils (Set 1)

Good morning. Federer and Nalbandian are still on court; quite a dog fight there. On serve in the third set. It went to a third set tiebreak. The commentators are saying that Federer didn't play his best, by any stretch of the imagination, but he played the bigger points better.

Now, let's hope Rafa can have a good day at the office himself, and move on to the final.

They are on court, warming up. I believe Monfils won the toss and elected to receive.

Rafa is wearing the same lime green shirt, white piratas and white bandana.

Vamos Rafa is written in the clay. They just panned to it. :D

Rafa to serve. He's done all his rituals. 15-0, as return sails. Fault. BH into net. Shadows on court. 15-15. Fault. FH goes wild. 30-15. Commentators are saying that Henman said Rafa is the best player he's ever faced on clay. 40-15. Fault. FH goes wide. 40-30. Let. Rafa misses FH. He's a little tight right now, going for too much. Deuce. Long rally, and GM hits winner. Ad GM. BH goes wide. Deuce. Fault. BH goes long. Ad Rafa. Long rally, and GM hits into net. Game Rafa.

1-0, RN.

GM to serve. 0-15. Rafa comes to net and wins point. Fault. BH goes just wide. 15-15. Rafa has had tons of backhand practice lately -- all the players go for his BH. DF. 15-30. Fault. Another DF. 15-40. Two BP's. Fault. Return mishit. 30-40. FH winner. Yells Vamos!!! He breaks.

2-0, RN.

Rafa to serve. Fault. BH UE into net. 0-15. Rafa not happy with that. I loved the journalist who said that Rafa takes every missed shot as a personal affront. FH goes wide. 0-30. Danger point here. Come on, Rafa!!! Better FH that time. 15-30. Fault. 30-30. BH into net. 30-40. Come on, Rafa!!! Beautiful FH winner by Rafa. Deuce. Great serve. Ad Rafa. The forehand onslaught continues. Commentators are calling him a gladiator.

3-0, RN.

GM to serve. BH goes wide. 0-15. FH winner by GM. 15-15. Fault. BH into net. 15-30. 30-30. Fault. FH goes wide. 40-30. Good serve. Game GM.

3-1, RN.

Rafa to serve. Let's hope he picks up his serving level a bit. Rafa comes to net, and GM misses pass. 15-0. GM misses FH. 30-0. Rafa misses FH. 30-15. Fault. Late call. So it's a let. Drop shot winner by Rafa. 40-15. They are saying that Rafa plays like a veteran with his shot selection. Great serve, and then a nice volley.

4-1, RN.

GM to serve. 40-0. Had a phone call there. Misses FH. 40-15. Misses again. 40-30. He's going for his shots, as most Rafa opponents do. Rafa misses volley. Game GM.

4-2, RN.

Rafa does rituals. FH angle winner. 15-0. Commentators are saying Rafa is a joy to watch when he's playing his best. Great volley winner. Audience gives standing ovation. 30-0. GM has FH winner. 30-15. BH goes long. 30-30. Rafa has to be careful. Come on, Rafa!!! Fault. GM into net. Rafa yells Vamos!!! 40-30. Fault. Game Rafa.

5-2, RN.

GM to serve. New balls. GM misses FH. 0-15. He has 15 UE's. 15-15. DF. 15-30. Fault. Misses FH. 15-40. Two set points for Rafa. Bad miss by GM. Rafa gets set. Vamos, Rafa!!!

6-2, first set for Rafa.